What Sudhir Kakar (1938-2024) had to say on violence, secularism, and religion in India

This interview is an excerpt from a conversation with Sudhir Kakar by Manasi Kumar, published in The Essential Sudhir Kakar, Oxford University Press.

Manasi Kumar [MK]: India is changing. The world is changing so rapidly. Politics, social media, cultural values, and traditions are evolving. Given the backdrop of this volume, there could be a number of questions in the domain of Indian culture and society in the minds of most readers, who would be keen to know your understanding of the changing dynamics, Professor Kakar. You have been a close observer, commentator, and analyst of the changing behavioural foundation of individuals, which delineates why people behave and how they behave. Therefore, I would like as some questions that I feel your essays in this volume open up in the context of events today. In Indian Society, two dominant religious groups, Hindus and Muslims, have been living together at least since the early 8th century AD – harmoniously or otherwise, we do not know. But one thing we know with certainty is that Muslims are decisively in an adverse situation now than any previous point in history. So you think what has happened was inevitable?
Sudhir Kakar [SK]: Events become inevitable only when we confuse our...

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